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With Millions of Dollars at Stake, Enterprises Must Take Proactive Measures to Combat Software Audit Liabilities, Says Leading Outsourcing Advisory Firm

"Enterprises must understand the complexity of maintaining software compliance, take protective measures at each stage of the software lifecycle, and establish proactive processes for maintaining compliance,” said Jonathan Shaw, principal, Pace Harmon.

Vienna, VA (PRWEB)December 05, 2012

While software license compliance is a common challenge among enterprises with dynamic business environments and evolving infrastructure technologies, enterprises are experiencing an uptick in provider-driven software audits. This is a direct result of a weaker economy and decreasing new license revenue and has exposed enterprises to significant cost and operational risks. To help mitigate the impacts of software audits, Pace Harmon, a leading outsourcing advisory services firm, has released a complimentary pair of reports on “Software Compliance: Protecting the Enterprise from Audits.”

“As software providers are now relying on more frequent audits to ensure maximized license and maintenance revenue and earnings-per-share, enterprises with substantial software portfolios are suddenly facing multi-million dollar software compliance liabilities,” said Jonathan Shaw, Ph.D., principal, Pace Harmon. “To safeguard against this growing risk, enterprises must understand the complexity of maintaining software compliance, take protective measures at each stage of the software lifecycle, and establish proactive processes for maintaining compliance.”

The first report offers an analysis of the current state of license compliance, including compliance challenges, the trend of increasing audit frequency, the costs of non-compliance, and out-of-compliance examples, as well as an overview of considerations around software compliance and audits. The second report delves into a thorough discussion of considerations during software acquisition—covering selecting the correct licensing structure, broadening and retaining license use rights and mitigating audit risk. It also shares considerations for maintaining compliance including following Software Asset Management (SAM) processes, seeking automated support for SAM, and assuming a proactive stance with providers. Lastly, it explains best practices for managing a software audit, ranging from audit preparation and aggressively managing the audit process to treating settlement as a negotiation.

About Pace Harmon
Pace Harmon is an outsourcing advisory services firm providing guidance on complex outsourcing and strategic sourcing transactions, process optimization, and supplier program management. Founded in 2003 and headquartered in Tysons Corner, Va., Pace Harmon provides pragmatic and insightful advice that helps its client base of Fortune 500 and other large enterprises maximize the benefits achieved from their mission-critical supplier relationships. For more information, please visit http://www.paceharmon.com.